As Christians, many of us habitually "say grace" before every single
meal, but do we mean what Paul meant about eating with "thanksgiving?"

Three times Paul said all food was acceptable
so long as it is eaten "with thanksgiving" (Romans 14:6; 1Corinthians
10:16, 30; and 1Timothy 4:3-5). Taken in context, Paul wrote about what
we call
communion or "Eucharist." In Romans 14 and 1Corinthians 10, Paul
contrasted
"thanksgiving" (which is what Eucharist
means) for food
as the opposite of eating meat which had been sacrificed to idols. It
appears that Paul recognized every meal
as the Eucharist (also called communion), a celebration of the
Sacrifice
who offered Himself
for the glory of the Father and the life of believers.

".
. . the one eating unto the Master, he is
eating because he is eucharistei
unto
God, and the one not eating unto the Master, he is not eating because
he is
eucharistei unto God." (Rom
14:6)1

"The cup of blessing which we bless,
is it not a fellowship of the blood of the Anointed? The bread which we
break, is it not a fellowship of the body of the Anointed? . . . For if
by generosity, I partake, why am I insulted for the sake of what I
eucharisto?"

(1Cor 10:16, 30)2

In John 17:1-2,
Romans 5:19, and Philippians 2:8; Jesus offered the sacrifice of
His obedient death, bringing the Adamic lineage of rebels to completion
and establishing the Christian lineage of obeyers instead of rebels.
Since
Paul contrasted food sacrificed to idols
with thanksgiving meals (Eucharist), then
Romans 14:6 and 1Corinthians 10:30 apparently should prompt Christians
to
treat all foods as the body of our Lord and all drinks as His blood. To
do so would transform the way we eat and would help us live in more
constant thought of Him.

FOOD AS IDENTITY
The Old Covenant Law brilliantly reminds Jews every
time they eat that they are Jews through dietary restrictions. Every
time Muslims
eat, they too remember that their are Muslim because of their dietary
restrictions.
In both cases, food reinforces identity. Under the law of Christ (the
Anointed),
all foods are now clean (Mark 7:19), a distinction which potentially
removes the
power of food to shape
one's spiritual identity. Christian
tradition has long treated the Eucharist as a group
event with priestly or pastoral oversight; yet Jesus said, "Do this as
often as you drink, in remembrance
of Me" (1Cor 11:25).

Context #1: The Jewish "Passover" serves as one
context for the Christian Eucharist. Both Passover and Eucharist
involve a death that empowered
freedom from slavery. Jesus chose the Passover dinner as the occasion
to instute the Eucharist. The annual Passover dinner strongly
reinforced Jewish identity by reminding all of Israel of their national
freedom. The Jewish epic "My
Glorious Brothers," beats with the rhythm of "We were
slaves once in Egypt," because that identity bound Jews together and
colored their lives. As a Jewish group
event,
Passover is an appropriate context for group meals in which Christians
can give thanks (Eucharist) and identify themselves as the "Israel of
God"(Gal 6:16) whom
Jesus has
ransomed from the slavery of sin.

Context #2: Jesus also applied the context of manna
to the Eucharist. In direct relation to the manna, Jesus hauntingly
said in John 6:56, "... unless you eat the
flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you."
Our Master taught us to think about the Eucharist like manna.

FOOD AS MEDICINE
Manna was the heavenly medicine which kept Israel
from death in Exodus chapter 16.
Jesus pointed out however, that it was an ineffective medicine: ". . .
your
fathers ate the manna, and are dead" (John 6:58) Their medicine
was only temporary, so they had to keep eating it several times a
day, day after day.

How does eating the eternal Bread of Life apply to
me medicinally?
Disobedience is death (Gen 2:17), and separation from God is death (Gen
3:8). Perhaps I
should eat every food as the body of Jesus ("having given thanks")
medicinally and drink every beverage as His blood ("as often as you
drink") medicinally for the purpose of keeping me from death, that is,
keeping me from
disobedience and separation. Notice that Jesus said, "He who eats My
flesh and drinks My blood abides
in Me, and I in him." In John 15,
abiding is something we already do, but is something which we are also
commanded to actively do as well. We
take the Eucharist in memory of what we already do (we have life in
Him), but perhaps we can also take the Eucharist in obedience to the
command to abide in Him.

Abiding in the True Vine (John 15:4) is the opposite
of separation
from Him. When I am not cognizant of His powerful presence, there is a
degree of separation which Jesus calls us to actively resist. In the
context of John 6:56, perhaps eating every meal as the True Manna can
offer
real power for an abiding lifestyle. Ignatius of Antioch, whom the Apostle John personally discipled, said the Eucharist
is "the
medicine of immortality and the antidote to prevent us from dying."

EUCHARIST TRADITION
Church tradition does not support the idea of taking
every meal as the body and blood of our Lord. Very soon after the
apostles died, Christians across Europe, Asia, and Africa all adopted
the pattern of a congregational Eucharist, implemented by priests. If
the Apostle Paul meant what I believe he meant here, then a powerful
practice of
Scripture quickly faded everywhere from Christian use. Paul Pavao
documented the early church practiced
Eucharist as a group meal, quoting Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and the Didache.2

On the other hand, we would not have to claim the
gates of hell prevailed against Christianity if a solitary practice
fell out of use. Roman Catholicism offers Mass to its adherents every
day. Perhaps it should be an everyday practice for Protestants too who
claim Solus Christus (no need for a priest) in all things. For more
thoughts on the "abiding" lifestyle, <click here.>

1. Author's translation
2. Ibid
3.
www.ancient-faith.com/2014/11/27/the-christian-thanksgiving-mealAll scripture quotations are from the New
King James Version except where otherwise noted.
"Every Meal as a Sacrifice" by Matthew
Bryan
was
first
published at www.matthewbryan.net May
20th, 2015. All rights are
reserved.

... as servants of the King and
stewards of the mysteries
of God. 1Cor 4:1

The kingdom of heaven is like a
treasure hidden in the
field... Mat 13:44 nasb

You have hidden these things from the
wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Luk
10:21
nasb

they believed Philip
preaching the
good news about the kingdom
of God and the name of Jesus Christ... Acts 8:12 nasb

To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of
God... Mark 4:11 nasb

For He rescued us from the
domain
of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son Col
1:13 nasb

we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God
predestined before the ages to our glory 1Cor 2:7 nasb

I went about preaching the kingdom... Acts 20:25
nasb

what is the administration
of the mystery which
for ages has
been hidden in God... Eph
3:9nasb

...the glorious richness of
this
secret. And the secret is this: the Messiah is
united with you... Col 1:27cjb

...a true knowledge of God’s
mystery, that is, Christ Himself in whom are hidden all the treasures of
wisdom ... Col 2:2-3 nasb

... great is the mystery of
godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the
Spirit, seen by angels... 1Tim 3:16 nasb

He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God
and Father... Rev 1:6 nasb

I, John, your brother and
fellow
partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are
in Jesus... Rev 1:9 nasb